Day One
You can see my post on the birth here. Even within half an hour of the surgery I started to regain some feeling in my incision. It was a little tingly and the midwife topped me up with pain relief. My catheter leaked so I had to have it removed and go to the toilet myself earlier than I'd anticipated. Standing left me feeling sick and light-headed, it hurt to stand, it hurt to walk but if I lay down I felt relief.
Day Two
The second day was possibly the worst. The pain relief was Diclofenac (or Voltarol) which is more anti-inflammatory than pain killer so it took time for that to start working. I was taking Paracetamol along with it and Oral Morphine as and when the pain got too much. I didn't take as much as I could have and that definitely contributed to this being the worst day. Sometimes you don't know you need it until you need to move and by that time it's too late.
Day Three
We were discharged from hospital after two nights so the second half of day three was at home. I hadn't realised that Dicolfenac was not a strong pain killer so I wasn't taking my Paracetamol. I've always kind of thought Paracetamol didn't do anything for me so I assumed it wouldn't make a difference if I skipped it.. I was wrong! I slept propped up on the sofa downstairs to avoid having to get out of bed and using my stomach muscles.
Day Four
Sleeping on the sofa.. not a good idea! Today my back may have been the most painful thing.. which at least distracted me from my incision. My milk also came in today so now I have nowhere comfortable to hold Milo.
Day Five
Feels like I've turned a corner pain-wise today. I'm much more comfortable getting up from the sofa and have just about got the knack of getting out of bed now. I roll on to my side and push myself up.. I'm catching my stomach muscles less and less. I laughed this evening and it hurt so much I cried. If I can avoid straining my stomach it's really not that bad.
Day Six
Went to my parents for Sunday Lunch. The car ride was 100% more comfortable than the ride home from the hospital. I felt no pain going over bumps in the road, I was more nervous than anything. I felt able to walk up and down stairs, my back ache came in around 2pm and at night I was pretty bad. I think I over did it.
Day Seven
I am feeling fine during the day and moving around comfortably but at night time I feel totally different. From 5pm onward I want to lie down. I sneezed and forgot myself so didn't hold my incision. Most painful thing I've done so far! I had to check to make sure I was still intact. All was fine but boy that hurt!
Day Eight
Today I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm feeling good during the day.. I can't stand for too long but I'm pretty comfortable and at night I still feel good. I got up in the night with Milo and felt fine. That's the first time, usually getting up in the night is the worst as I'm stiff from being immobile in my sleep. I really feel just so much better today.
Day Nine
Today my tummy is really tender above my incision. I can only think that's the internal bruising. the bruising around my incision site is really bad so I can't imagine what it's like on the inside. We went out shopping and I wasn't too uncomfortable. I was achey from walking for a long time but didn't take any pain relief until bedtime. - Shaved my legs in the shower today. Can't believe I was able to already!
Day Ten
We went to register Milo's birth and to the hospital for his hearing test and then to the supermarket. Everything is easier now. I can use my tummy muscles a little, I don't have that stinging, burning sensation when I catch them and getting out of bed is a breeze compared to a few days ago. I'm still bleeding but it feels like that's coming to an end too. I'm starting to feel like myself again.
Day Eleven
My tummy is still sore but not really around the incision site so I think it's internal. Feels like I've been kicked repeatedly in the stomach. Not pleasant but still 100x better than I thought I'd feel 2 weeks on. I can get in and out of bed and move around easily and was up with Milo every time he woke in the night without needing help so was able to give Lee a decent nights sleep.
Day Twelve
I'm starting to get some pain back around my incision site. I'm not sure if I've been overdoing it or perhaps I'm regaining some feeling where before I was numb. I've been laughing A LOT which may sound like a good thing but effectively I'm hammering my wound from the inside and I can't see if that's doing any damage which is scary but I'm nervous that may be why I'm feeling it again.
Day Thirteen
Still sore but not so much I can't get around. Took Ella to school and picked her up with Milo by myself today. Torrential downpour didn't help! I thought I'd stopped bleeding but it's back and worse than when I left the hospital. I don't know if that's normal or if it's related to feeling my incision again but it's worrying me a little.On the plus side by scar is looking really good. Already better than my first, it's amazing.
Day Fourteen
My skin on my tummy is still tender but it feels like it's getting better. My incision is still sore, worst on the left side which is where it hurt most after the operation. I can comfortably hold my incision and it feels good to support it. I haven't laid on my front yet (scared) but I lay on my side and it feels better when I lay on the left which again I think is about support. Fingers crossed I'm still on track and healing.
Day Fifteen
Inside pains seem to be improving as does the skin tenderness. It's definitely helping to rest. I'm pretty sure I overdid it when I started to feel better so an FYI for all of you reading this for info before your C-Section.. you need to keep resting as long as you can.. If you do too much too soon you will slow down the healing process. Milk has nearly stopped and bleeding is still going strong :(
Day Nineteen
Last night we went out for dinner while Milo was with my Mum. I was feeling good for the most part but I'm definitely not ready for heels yet. I'm not sure why but it really seemed to put strain on my tummy walking in heels. That and the shivering (it was freezing) you wouldn't believe how much that hurt.. it's basically loads of involuntary muscle spasms... not pleasant. All in all.. I'm not doing well taking it easy.
Day Twenty One
My lower tummy is still uber tender and sensitive. It hurts even for soft material to brush over it. It must be really bruised under the skin is all I can think it is. I did manage to have a bath today and finally get all my steri-strips off. Neither hurt, I was worried about nothing. Starting to look a bit more like me. My scar is already 100% better than my first which is incredible and I think the bleeding might be stopping.
Day Twenty Three
I've been a bit stupid today, I may or may not have moved a heavy sofa and a bed... on my own. I moved them all the way out of the house.. not smart! I've been feeling fine and even since then I don't feel like I've done any damage or anything but when I got out of the bath I noticed a teeny tiny bit of white goo on the right side of my scar. It wiped away with a cotton bud and doesn't seem to be oozing or anything so I'm not sure.. it may just have been the remnants of a scab..either way it spooked me.. it's only 3 weeks since I had major abdominal surgery.. why can't I just rest like a normal person? In other news.. still heavy bleeding and skins still sore, dry and flakey. I only noticed the gunk because I was oiling my tummy.
Day Twenty Five
No more gunk so I'm assuming what I saw was a healing scab after all. My tummy is still very sore but not my incision. It's just above it and below my belly button, I've read online it may be that I'm regaining feeling there were it was previously numb because the nerves are cut. That and the still very heavy bleeding are the two things I can't wait to get better. No internal/scar site pain at all at the moment.
Day Twenty Eight
My tummy has shrunk considerably.. I can near enough suck it all in now so my uterus must be almost back to its original size (they say 6 weeks) Bleeding is now what I'd consider "normal" for a monthly bleed so it may be coming to an end.. thank god! Skin is still tender but I
think it's improving.. hard to measure. When I sneeze the left size of my scar has started to sting again.. not sure if that's good or bad but I'm trying not to sneeze. Otherwise feeling good.
Day Thirty Two
The bleeding has FINALLY stopped. The burning pain I had got back on the left side of my scar has gone completely now. My tummy is still sore to put pressure but my tender skin is feeling 50% better. My line nigra seems to have started fading too, I was getting concerned it might be permanent
Day Thirty Five
Bleeding again.. awesome! I'm hoping this is a monthly bleed now.. we'll see in a few days. On the right side of my scar I have a dent (really hard to describe) I've looked online for a similar picture but can't find anything so I may have to put one up if it stays as it is. One side is fairly smooth and the other looks like I have a wedge of tummy above my scar. Very weird! It's reduced A LOT over the last couple of weeks so I'm hoping it's still swollen and will go away but I never had anything like it the first time.
Day Thirty Eight
Bleeding stopped again so I'm assuming it was aunt flow after all. I can't see any drastic improvements happening now, I think it's all just going to gradually get better over the next few months. I have no major complaints anymore I'm just generally still a bit sore but as Lee keeps reminding me it was only 6 weeks ago I had surgery.. it's normal to not feel 100% yet.. just frustrating. Because my scar looks to well already it feels like I should
feel as well but there's so much going on inside that I can't see I really have no idea how close to healed I am right now. I just hope I'm back to normal for our VegasVacation in March.
I'm going to leave my How I Healed "journal" there. I hope it helps someone who's recently had or waiting for a section and interested in the stages of recovery. I looked all over for something like this when I was panicking before the operation and even since then when looking up symptoms but found nothing similar so I hope it will be of use to someone else looking for the same.
Miss BB
